Colin Healy’s Kerry FC make the trip to the capital for the opening game of the season as they take on UCD.

Kerry FC finished 9th in the 2025 First Division but also reached the semi finals of the FAI Cup losing out to eventual winners Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium. Kerry have recruited strong in the pre-season and will hope to be around the play off spots come the business end of the season. In Pre-Season action, Kerry recently lost to Munster Counterparts Cork City 4-1, drew with Galway and lost to Waterford but are in the Semi-Finals of the Munster Senior Cup after a decent run of results.

UCD finished 4th in the 2025 First Division and lost to Bray Wanderers in the Semi-finals of the promotion playoffs. UCD manager William O’Connell will hope that his side will start 2026 on the right foot when they face a strengthened Kerry side at home, despite losing a few key players from last season. In pre-season UCD’S most notable result was a 3-0 win over Athlone.

Key Information:

Kick off: 19;45 13th February @UCD Bowl

Where to Watch: LOITV

Betting Odds: UCD@4/5  Draw@12/5 Kerry@14/5

Referee:  Alan Franklin

 

Team News

Kerry have brought in a decent amount of players to strengthen their squad. Notable new signings include Jonas Hakkinen (Formally of Cobh and Cork City), Vincent Borden (Galway United) and Cian Murphy who could show his presence in Kerry’s attack based on his performances at Cork City and Cobh Ramblers.

UCD will feel the loss of Adam Brennan to Shamrock Rovers and Adam Verdon to Wexford. Centre-Back Luca Cailoce who signed from Shelbourne and has played for Ireland at u19 level may show his presence in defense for UCD.

 

Key statistics

Sean McGrath was Kerry’s highest scorer last season with 7 goals while Sean Brennan was UCD’s top goal scorer with 10 goals to his name in the First division in 2025 . Sean Brennan will play for Bray Wanderers this season. It is important to note that Kerry have scored in their last 3 meetings with UCD.

Key Players

Cian Murphy should be a player to watch for Kerry in this game. Murphy has made 167 appearances across the LOI Premier and First Division and has scored 30 goals from his center-forward position. Murphy scored 10 goals for Cobh Ramblers last season. Cian Brosnan is also one to watch after scoring a few goals in pre-season action.

Ciaran Behan scored 6 goals for the Students last season and may be one to watch in terms of goals for UCD in this game. Mikey Raggett was also a notable attacking player in the 2025 First Division for UCD.

 

 

Previous Meetings

19/09/2025 UCD 2-1 Kerry

25/07/2025 Kerry 0-3 UCD

02/05/2025 UCD 0-1 Kerry